Dana says it is the best pizza that I have ever made.  I have to agree with her.  It was extremely tasty.

Fire and Smoke Pizza

• 1 pizza dough – (recipe for Basic Pizza Dough)
• 3 roasted red peppers, sliced – Roast yourself or use the jarred variety
• 1 sweet onion, finely sliced
• 3 tbs finely sliced fresh basil
• 1 cup smoked mozzarella
• 1 cup mozzarella
• 1 cup chipotle pizza sauce – recipe follows
• cornmeal or semolina for dusting the peel

The first step is to make the pizza dough and let it rise till it doubles. Here is a simple and easy pizza dough. If you are running short on time, almost all grocery stores have pre-made pizza dough in the deli section and/or freezer section, or you can always stop by a local pizzeria and purchase the pre-made dough.

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Make sure to dice and slice all of the vegetables before starting the pizza.  You do not want the sauce sitting on the pizza for too long before you put it in the oven.

Coat a pizza peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina or cornmeal.  Then spread the pizza dough out over it.  Make sure you make a pizza that will fit on your pizza stone.

Coat the pizza evenly with the chipotle pizza sauce.  Then top with the regular mozzarella cheese.

Next layer on the sliced roasted red peppers, onions and basil.

Finally top with the smoked mozzarella.

Bake at 500 degrees for 10-14 minutes.  When the crust browns and the cheese starts to brown, your pizza is ready.

This pizza is awesome.  The heat of the chipotle sauce combined with smokiness of the roasted peppers, mozzarella and chipotle peppers is amazing.  I could eat this over and over again.

Making Chipotle Pizza Sauce

Chipotle Pizza Sauce

• 14.5 oz can of tomato sauce
  
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  
• 1 tsp onion powder
  
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 2 tsp sugar
  
• 5 finely diced chipotle peppers
• 1 tsp adobo sauce from the chipotle peppers
  
• Salt and Pepper

Dice up the chipotle peppers reserve the sauce that they came in.  In a medium bowl combine all of the ingredients.  Mix well.

Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper based on personal preferences.

The rolled and stuffed flank steak came out perfectly cooked.

Stuffed Flank Steak

• 1 flank steak (roughly 1 1/2lbs)
• 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and Freshly ground black pepper
• Roasted Pepper and Feta Cheese Stuffing – (Recipe Below)

Stuffing

• 2-3 oz Feta Cheese
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and diced – or use canned peppers.
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley
• 1 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Dice up the garlic and herbs.  Add them to a bowl with remaining stuffing ingredients.  Mix thoroughly.  I found that using my hands worked the best.  Every other instrument that I tried just turned into a giant mess.

On a large cutting board, lay out the flank steak.  Carefully insert a knife into the long edge of the flank steak (the edge parallel to the grain).  Carefully butterfly the flank steak. Cut the steak until it can be opened like a book or magazine.

Evenly spread the stuffing over the flank steak.  Leave a 1 inch edge around the flank steak.  Also leave a couple of inches at the top so that the rolled meat can close without having the stuffing fall out.

Now roll the steak up into rolls and place the rolls seam side down on the cutting board.  Now grab some butchers twine and tie up the rolls.  This can be easily done with one person using a surgeons know.  Start with a basic knot, twisting one half under the other.  To do a surgeons knot, twist it one more time.  The extra twist will prevent the twine from loosening when you finish the knot.  See the picture before for reference.

Lightly oil the outside of the roll with extra-virgin olive oil and then season with salt and pepper.

Setup your grill for indirect cooking and preheat it to medium heat.   Once the grill is preheated, place the rolled steak on the grill over indirect heat.  Close the lid and cook for roughly 15 minutes.

Flip the meat and continue to cook for another 15 minutes.  At this point the roll is approximately medium rare.  If you like it well done, cook for another 10-15 minutes.  You can always check with a meat thermometer.

When the meat is the desired doneness remove it from the grill and cover.  Let it rest for at least 10 minutes before carving.

When it is time to serve, remove the butchers twine and then carve the roll into 3/4 inch slices.

This meal was delicious.  The feta and roasted red peppers were the ultimate filling.  Salty with a tad bit of sweet from the peppers.  For looking so complex, this was an easy and delicious meal.  Plus it was cheap.  Flank steaks affordable and stuffing them makes them taste like a million bucks.

The tequila makes these amazing

Grilled Steak Tacos with Roasted Peppers

• 1lb flank steak
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 tequila
• 2 limes
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tbs cumin
• 1 tbs oregano
• 1 tbs onion powder
• 1 tbs chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Roasted Peppers

• 6 poblano peppers
• 1 zip top bag for steaming the peppers

Lay the flank steak out on a cutting board and dry it off with a towel.

The flank steak

With a flank steak I usually tenderize it before I use it.  To do that use a hard object or a meat tenderizer and hammer the meat.  This will tenderize it and make it so that it is not too chewy.

Take all of your aggression and use it against the poor helpless piece of meat.

Mix all of the seasonings above and place in a zip top bag.  You can add as much tequila as you like.  Jeff likes tequila so I think that we added about a 1/2-3/4 cup of tequila.

Add as much tequila as you like.

Then seal the bag and squeeze as much air out as you can.  Then refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.  2-3 hours is preferred.

Jeff was a great hand model. I think he has a future in the business.

Just like the shrimp tacos from a couple of days ago, we are going to serve these with roasted peppers.  While the meat marinades, roast the peppers.  Place the peppers on high heat and turn them every minute or so until all of the sides are blackened.

It is alright to let them burn as it will make the skins come off easier.

Make sure to rotate them so that all of the sides get blackened.

Once all of the sides are blistered and black time to remove them from the grill

Remove them from the grill when blistered and place in a plastic bag.   The plastic bag will help to steam the skins off.

Zip top bags make the perfect container for steaming the skins off.

After about 10 minutes it is time to peel the skins.  As you can see, the skins come off in giant sheets.

It might be a little dirty, but this is a hands on sort of thing.

Slice into strips and serve these tender, smokey, and tasty treats with any and everything.

Now that the peppers are done, it is time to grill the meat.  Place the flank steak on the grill over high heat and sear the outside. 

Place the meat on a pre-heated grill

After about 5-7 minutes you should have good grill marks.  When you have good grill marks and the meat looks golden it is time to flip.

Flip when you have good carmelization

Now continue to cook for another 5-7 minutes.  The meat should be about medium-medium well.  Remove and let the meat sit for 5 minutes before carving.  This will let the juices redistribute throughout the meat.  Then carve the meat into thin strips.  Make sure to cut against the grain.  Otherwise, the meat will be chewy.

Make sure to cut against the grain

Serve the steak tacos on a flour tortilla with some cheese, roasted peppers, salsa and some sour cream.  Makes for a perfect summer meal.

The tacos are great with just a little lime juice to add a tad bit more acidity.

These tacos were the best of the night.  The meat was cooked perfectly and the seasoning was awesome.  Now that it is summer time, it is time to grill.  You don’t always have to make burgers and hot dogs.  Next time make grilled steak tacos.